Saturday, October 25, 2014

Junior World Championships, Fort Lauderdale 2014 - DAY 4

The Junior World Championships, Fort
Lauderdale 2014, continued with a spectacular day of judo on the last
day of the individual competition on Saturday.

Four weight categories were in action as the junior
women’s -78kg, +78kg categories and the men’s -100kg and +100kg
categories all graced the tatami. The world’s leading young heavyweights
illustrated their quality at the last IJF World Championships of the
year.

The Junior World Championships will come to a close on
Sunday with the pulse-pounding team competition. Judo fans will see 18
teams compete in the men’s event and 16 teams compete in the women’s
event.

Mr. Daniel LASCAU, IJF Sports Director, conducted the draw ahead of the final block on day four in Fort Lauderdale.

Reigning junior men world champions Georgia were drawn
against Uzbekistan while junior women title holders Japan will start the
defence of their crown against Great Britain.

BUKHBAT Mashbat, Mongolan Judo Association General
Secretary, was satisfied with the team draw but believes anything can
happen in the hugely exciting format which made its Youth Olympic Games
debut at Nanjing 2014.

“Our men’s team will face the Bahamas while the women
will fight Argentina. We are pleased with the draw but these are tough
matches. Everything can change in one contest and we will have to be
focused. All of our judoka are excited to take part in the team
competition on Sunday and many people will be watching in Mongolia on
the live IJF online stream.”

Japan finished top of the individual medal table with
seven gold medals, four silver and two bronze ahead of France (one gold,
two silver, five bronze) and Russia (one gold, two silver, three
bronze).

JUNIOR WOMEN

-78kg: Tunisia's MZOUGUI strikes gold

African Championships bronze medallist Sarra MZOUGUI
(TUN) became Junior world champion as she defeated Junior European
bronze medallist Sama Hawa CAMARA (FRA) in the first final of the day on
Saturday. Both judoka were active and ambitious which made for an
exciting contest. After two minutes the Tunisian fighter was penalised
with a shido for going out of the area. The 20-year-old MZOUGUI launched
a ko-soto-gake which earned waza-ari and advanced into osaekomi to hold
down her French opponent for 15 seconds.

The Tunsian fighter said: "I am very happy. I
worked really good with my federation, my coach Slah Rekik. The fight
which wasn't very easy was the fight with the Polish fighter because she
was moving and running very much on the mat. I train three times a day with boys and girls. I
am working on physical and technical preparation and I want to thank
the IJF because they invited me here and I would also like to thank the
Tunisian Federation."

In the first semi-final CAMARA dismissed 18-year-old
Paks Junior European Cup silver medallist Anna Maria WAGNER (GER) by two
yuko scores after starting the contest by receiving two shido peanlties
for passivity. In the second semi-final MZOUGUI bested Evelin SALANKI
(HUN) who finished seventh at the Junior European Championships. The
Tunisian won three of her four contests by ippon including the
semi-final after just 43 seconds.

The first bronze medal was won by 18-year-old
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Ana Laura PORTUONDO ISASI (CAN) who
convincingly defeated SALANKI. All three victories for the Canadian were
by ippon as she sealed a spot on the podium in front of Judo Canada
President Mike TAMURA. The second bronze medal went to 18-year-old
Junior European silver medallist Beata PACUT (POL) who saw off WAGNER.
PACUT registered the only score of the contest after 67 seconds with a
tani-otoshi before being penalised once for passivity and twice for
false attacks.

+78kg: ASAHINA powers to Junior World gold for Japan

Tokyo Grand Slam bronze medallist ASAHINA Sarah (JPN)
delivered a virtuoso performance which culminated with a victory in the
heavyeight final against Junior European bronze medallist Anastasiia
SAPSAI (UKR). ASAHINA, who turned 18 on Wednesday, has another reason to
celebrate after throwing SAPSAI for ippon with an emphatic harai-goshi
after only 24 seconds. After stepping off the medal podium the Japanese
judoka said: “I’m really happy because I was injured in March and I’ve
worked hard to come back for this competition. I am now looking forward
to fighting at the Kodokan Cup and the Tokyo Grand Slam.”

In the first semi-final Junior Asian Championships
bronze medallist HAN Mi Jin (KOR) fell to SAPSAI (UKR) by ippon after
trailing to a yuko. In the second semi-final ASAHINA absorbed every
attack Junior European bronze medallist Marine ERB (FRA) could muster to
win on shido penalties. ERB was penalised twice for gripping
infringements and once for passivity while ASAHINA was only penalised
once for passivity in the scoreless contest.

The first bronze medal was captured by ERB who held
down Junior European Team gold medallist Ivana SUTALO (CRO) while the
second bronze medal was destined for Ecuador as Junior Pan American gold
medallist Marlin VIVEROS (ECU) entered her name into the record books.
The impressive 19-year-old won her country’s first ever world medal at
any level by ippon after 65 seconds.

Ecuador Head Coach Roberto IBANEZ said: “I am lost for
words, I am so happy. When I was a fighter the best I managed was a
seventh-place at the Junior World Championships in Hungary. Marlin has
been working so hard, she deserves this result and I am delighted for
her. Next up for her is the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam next week.”

JUNIOR MEN

-100kg: GOTO wins for Japan in front of the great INOUE

Junior All Japan Championships silver medallist GOTO
Ryutaro (JPN) became Junior World Champion in the -100kg category in
front of Japanese Head Coach and -100kg legend INOUE Kosei. GOTO
defeated Junior European champion and top seed Niyaz ILYASOV (RUS) to
suggest that he could be a contender to fill the senior void for Japan
in this weight category. GOTO received a shido for going out of the area
but went a waza-ari up after two minutes which was enough as the best
ILYASOV could conjure up was a yuko score. INOUE Kosei, who was sat next
to IJF President Mr. Marius VIZER in the crowd, nodded with approval
during the contest as GOTO looked sharp and full of industry.

In the first semi-final ILYASOV (RUS) triumphed against
teammate and Junior European silver medallist Ramazan MALSUIGENOV
(RUS). ILYASOV was penalised for passivity but that was never a
considerable factor in the contest as he opened the scoring with a
waza-ari and wrapped up the victory with a ko-soto-gake to win by
wazari-awasette-ippon. In the second semi-final GOTO bested Junior
European bronze medallist Zlatko KUMRIC (CRO) by a waza-ari which came
with just four seconds left on the clock as the contest looked set for
golden score with both judoka receiving two shido penalties.

The first bronze medal was won by All Japan Junior
Championships winner WOLF Aaron (JPN) who defeated losing semi-finalist
KUMRIC. WOLF led with a waza-ari from a ko-soto-gake after only 35
seconds and went on to score a second and match-winning waza-ari by
holding down KUMRIC for 15 seconds. The second bronze medal was clinched
by MALSUIGENOV who beat former Cadet world champion Guram TUSHISHVILI
(GEO). MALSUIGENOV built a considerable lead as he scored a yuko and
waza-ari but the Georgian fought back to score a waza-ari of his own
with a drop seoi-nage. With two minutes gone the Russian secured his
place on the podium by ippon.

+100kg: ULZIIBAYAR is the pride of Mongolia

Asian Games silver medallist ULZIIBAYAR Duurenbayar
(MGL) showed the progress he has made over the last year as he went one
better than he did at the 2013 Junior World Championships to win
heavyweight gold on Saturday. ULZIIBAYAR, 20, was an immovable force as
not one of his five opponents could score against him. Guga
KIBORDZALIDZE (GEO), who finished fifth at the Junior European
Championships this year, was diaptched by ippon in the +100kg final to
send the Mongolian team wild in the stands. KIBORDZALIDZE tried
osoto-gari but the Mongolian took his leg away to drive him down for
ippon.

After celebrating with his teammates following the
awarding ceremony, ULZIIBAYAR said: “I’ve managed to win today because
I’ve worked hard over the last year to improve my ability. I’ve also
worked with a psychologist to make sure my mind is focused on every
fight and everything went well today.

“My toughest fight was in the second round against
SELIM Khaled (EGY) as I was really challenged and was able to win by
just a yuko. I can’t wait to celebrate with my family and friends, this
moment means so much to me.”

In the first semi-final top seed Iakiv KHAMMO was
surpassed by ULZIIBAYAR. The Mongolian was penalised with a shido for
going out of the area before scoring a yuko with a modified kata-guruma.
KHAMMO attacked with a sumi-gaeshi and ULZIIBAYAR pressed forward with a
drop seoi-nage but there were no further scores. In the second
semi-final KIBORDZALIDZE (GEO) defeated Prague Junior European Cup
winner Anton RUDNYK (UKR). RUDNYK broke the deadlock with a waza-ari
score from an ura-nage but KIBORDZALIDZE replied with a waza-ari of his
own and added a second by trapping his opponent in osaekomi for 15
seconds.

The first bronze medal was won by Junior European
silver medallist Ruslan SHAKHBAZOV (RUS) who denied RUDNYK a place on
the podium by scoring ippon after three minutes. The second bronze medal
was clinched by KHAMMO who saw off Prague Junior European Cup bronze
medallist Sebastian FAGERHILL (SWE) by a waza-ari and a yuko.